The present invention relates to touch panels and, more particularly, to touch panels that may have dynamic zooming capabilities and that may have a low profile bezel.
Electronic devices such as cellular telephones, camera, and computers often use touch panels as user input devices. Various technologies have been employed for identifying the position of a user's touch on a touch panel. These technologies include optical imaging methods, in which image sensors located along edges of a touch panel detect the presence of a user's touch on the touch panel. The optical components required in implementing conventional optical imaging technologies in a touch panel protrude above the surface of the panel, necessitating an elevated bezel around the perimeter of the touch panel. As a result, conventional touch panels have undesirably elevated bezels. In addition, conventional optical imaging technologies are incapable of providing high positional accuracy (i.e., resolution) together with a fast refresh rate (e.g., imager frame rate), especially when the conventional optical imaging technologies are used in relatively larger (e.g., greater than 14 inch) touch panels.